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Businessmen wanting that look of authority are helping to drive a big increase in the use of cosmetic therapies such as Botox.

The New Zealand College of Appearance Medicine estimates that clients spent more than $22 million on injections of Botox and dermal fillers in the year ending March 31.

This was 18 per cent more than in the preceding year - compared with the 15 per cent increase recorded in Australia for all non-surgical cosmetic treatments, including beauty therapies such as hair removal.

College president Dr Teresa Cattin, the owner of the FaceWorks clinic in Albany, Auckland, said yesterday the increasing demand for injections of Botox and dermal fillers, which had occurred without respite for several years and even during the economic downturn, was probably fuelled in part by patients who might otherwise have had surgery. It was also spurred by the effectiveness and good value of the products.

Dr Cattin said the patient group had extended beyond the traditional category of women aged 40 to 55, and now included older people and patients in their late 20s and an increasing number of men.

Botox is the standard treatment sought by men, although one clinic, which offers "boob jab" injections of a dermal filler gel to make women's breasts "look fuller and softer, instantly" says this treatment is also suitable for men.

"For men it could mean defining those chest muscles that many hours at the gym are unlikely to fully achieve!" Clinic 42, of Epsom, says on its website.

The clinic said yesterday that it had given this treatment, which was relatively new to New Zealand, to a few women, but not men - "they're not brave enough to come in".

Dr Cattin said businessmen were the main group among Botox patients.

"[They] are unhappy with lines that make them look irritable and it alters the way people respond to you. When you're in a management position it's important that your face backs up what you are saying because we tend to read faces rather than question what people are saying.

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"The way people respond to us, especially in a position of authority, is very much influenced by what we look like. I wouldn't say it's vanity at all. I would say it's a practical issue reflecting work needs."

She said Botox injections were a straightforward treatment, effective and relatively cheap. A single treatment of frown lines cost $400 and needed to be done three or four times a year - "it works out as a cappuccino a day".